Troye Sivan Says Lil Nas X's Inspired Him To Do This Bold Thing

With only days to go before Troye Sivan’s third album is released, the singer is opening up about more of the experiences that inspired his new tracks and how his approach to music has shifted from his earlier albums.

Speaking with The Guardian, Sivan admitted the more sexually-charged visuals seen in the likes of his “Rush” music video and more of his new album, Something to Give Each Other, are because he’s stopped worrying so much about how others perceive him as a gay man in pop music.

“I think a little bit of that is honestly the work of other queer artists in mainstream pop, someone like Lil Nas X—I was just so inspired by how unafraid he was to take up space,” he said, adding that he “always felt a little bit like I kind of had to stay in my lane—maybe like, alt-bedroom-sadboy-gay-pop, or whatever.”

“Rush” clearly doesn’t fall into that description, though it sounds as if Sivan hasn’t fully ditched the “alt-bedroom-sadboy-gay-pop” vibe. He also spoke about how his song “One of Your Girls” draws from the experiences he “had with guys who had not previously been with guys,” and how “sometimes they had left me feeling really sad.”

“It probably comes from childhood [feelings] of not feeling like enough, and then seeing these guys that I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I want to be you or be with you, but I’m completely ‘hearteyes’ for you,’” he theorized. “I found that a lot of the time after these experiences, I’d be kind of selling myself short or allowing myself to be the secret.”

“It’s a bit self-deprecating,” he admitted.

Besides “Rush,” the only song to have been released from Sivan’s new album so far has been “Got Me Started,” another sexually-charged party song that samples Bag Raiders’ familiar aughts hit “Shooting Stars.”

As for the other eight tracks, fans will finally get a chance to listen before the week is up— Something to Give Each Other is out on October 13.